Last Month's Domestic Population Movement 587,000... Lowest in 47 Years

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] Last month, domestic population movement in South Korea recorded the lowest level in 47 years. This is due to population aging trends, as well as a decrease in housing sales and scheduled move-in volumes.

On the 27th, Statistics Korea announced the 'March Domestic Population Movement Statistics' containing this information.

The number of domestic movers in March was recorded at 587,000, a 20.1% decrease compared to the same period last year (735,000). This marks the 15th consecutive month since January last year that the number has declined compared to the same month of the previous year.

Population movement is a highly seasonal statistic and is usually compared based on the same month. From this perspective, looking only at March population movement each year, this year is the smallest scale in 47 years since 554,000 in 1975.

Statistics Korea cited the mid- to long-term trend of population aging, a decrease in housing sales in March, and a reduction in scheduled apartment move-in volumes as reasons. The proportion of people in their 20s and 30s, who tend to move relatively frequently, has decreased, while the proportion of those aged 60 and over, who tend to stay in one place, has increased, resulting in a clear downward curve in population movement.

The total domestic population was 51.75 million last year, down 90,000 from 51.84 million in 2020, indicating that the total domestic population has entered a declining phase since peaking in 2020. Along with the population decrease, population aging is progressing rapidly. The widespread wait-and-see attitude in the real estate market around this year's presidential election also contributed to reducing population movement.

Among domestic movers in March, 62.2% moved within the same city or province, while 37.8% moved between cities or provinces. Compared to the same time last year, intra-city/province moves decreased by 23.6%, and inter-city/province moves decreased by 13.7%.

By city/province, net migration (inflow minus outflow) showed net inflows in eight regions including Incheon (2,360 people), Gyeonggi (2,188 people), and Chungbuk (1,188 people). Nine regions including Gyeongnam (-2,052 people), Busan (-1,988 people), and Ulsan (-1,294 people) experienced net outflows. Seoul recorded a net outflow of 275 people.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.